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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24462559">Unrooted</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/citizen101erased/pseuds/citizen101erased'>citizen101erased</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>of roots and flowers - a diptych [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>My Engineer (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M, Tattoos, introspective</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 01:02:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>988</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24462559</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/citizen101erased/pseuds/citizen101erased</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>King has some thoughts on Ram's tattoos.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>King/Ram (My Engineer)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>of roots and flowers - a diptych [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1774021</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>240</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Unrooted</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Listen, I just needed to write <i>something</i> about these two after the finale because I'm not over them. This isn't where I planned this fic to go, but here we are anyway. This is possibly the sappiest thing I've ever written and that's really saying something. </p><p>This fic is unbetad. </p><p>Hope you all enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>King wakes up to the sound of rain pattering softly on his window and the comforting warmth of Ram’s arms around him. Ram is still sound asleep, judging by the slow rise and fall of his chest. </p><p>They have nowhere to go today, no plans, no chores that really need doing. They’ll have to get up to take care of the dogs at some point, but they’re still quiet right now, so King takes his time and relaxes some more, tracing lazy circles over Ram’s chest tattoo. </p><p>Ram’s tattoos have always intrigued King. He knows they intrigue most people, but ever since that first night Ram slept in his bed, when King got the first of his multiple concussions and was all drugged up and barely in control of himself and actually <i>touched</i> Ram’s dreamcatcher tattoo, he’s been obsessed with them. </p><p>To be fair, he’s pretty obsessed with Ram as a whole (which makes it even better that it turned out Ram is pretty obsessed with him, too - great news for everyone involved, really). </p><p>But oh, the tattoos. All these intricate patterns with thoughts and meaning behind them, etched forever onto Ram’s skin, even if Ram sometimes claims not to know their meaning anymore. King never believed that even for a second. </p><p>There’s six of them in total, and King is making a point of memorizing every line of every single one of them. </p><p>The first one he ever touched is the wolf on Ram’s arm. At the time, he appreciated it mostly aesthetically: took some cool photos with it and Ram’s sunglasses, on Ram’s phone. Ram has since, one evening over dinner, explained that to some native Americans, the wolf is a spirit that guides people through life. He got it at a time where he was feeling particularly lost, caught between cultures and never feeling fully at home anywhere. </p><p>There’s the dream catcher on Ram’s neck, of course. The first one he ever really, purposefully, touched - the one meant to keep away all the bad dreams, but that didn’t quite work as intended. King asked him once if he regrets getting that tattoo. Ram had looked him straight in the eyes and answered: “It caught your eye, so no.” </p><p>They both still get bad dreams - that probably won’t ever fully go away. But it’s less daunting now to go to sleep, knowing the other is there to take care of them when one of them does wake up from another nightmare. </p><p>The tattoo on Ram’s shoulder is a mysterious one. King hasn’t asked again what it means, and Ram hasn’t offered to explain yet. But King knows it’s a Polynesian design, and one evening of falling down a Google black hole while Ram was at boxing practice told King the turtle represents many things, including joining and stitching together families. It seems very fitting for someone whose family is stitched together from different cultures and different languages.  </p><p>The one he’s running his fingers over now is an even more intricate one - all small lines and different shapes intertwining. He’s read something on the internet about the eye in a pyramid being the Eye of God, but honestly that doesn’t make any sense to King. But a pyramid itself apparently represents support and being strong in the face of adversity, which <i>does</i> make a lot of sense to him. </p><p>King might not know the meanings of all the tattoos yet, but he’s picked up some recurring themes. Searching for identity, for family, for stability, for guidance - and not really knowing where to find it. </p><p>Ram may claim to have forgotten the meanings of some of his tattoos, but to King they’re all about Ram’s life. That they’re all from different cultures and religions just proves his suspicions even more: Ram has been completely, utterly, lost in his life, before King got to know him. </p><p>“What are you doing?” Ram’s voice interrupts his thoughts. It’s still raspy from sleep, and King looks up to find still sleepy eyes looking back at him. </p><p>“Thinking about your tattoos,” King replies. </p><p>“Hmm,” Ram replies, already falling back asleep. </p><p>King decides to use the opportunity to press a kiss to the pyramid. It’s still amazing to him how there’s no difference to the taste of the skin. If he closed his eyes, he wouldn’t even know there’s a tattoo there. He does, however, feel Ram’s breath hitch for a moment. </p><p>So he moves up, kisses Ram’s shoulder tattoo, then the dream catcher, the one he knows is Ram’s sweet spot and which must’ve been an interesting experience to get tattooed. Ram hums a little in appreciation, now really waking up and wrapping his arms around King more strongly. </p><p>King moves further, pressing soft kisses to Ram’s jaw and enjoying the feeling of the stubble there, before Ram shaves it off when they finally make it out of bed. Ram’s head turns a little when King is about to reach his mouth, and suddenly his lips are on King’s and King wonders once again why he ever thought pushing Ram away was the sensible thing to do when he could’ve had this all along. </p><p>Later, when they’ve managed to get showered and dressed and the dogs are fed, King watches over his breakfast as Ram carefully waters the small venus flytrap. He looks so at home now in King’s small condo, moving through it as if he’s always been here and always will. </p><p>Ram may have been unrooted in his life, lost and in need of guidance, and King doesn't know what Ram has been through to make him feel like that. Maybe he'll find out one day, maybe he won't. But it doesn't matter, not now they're here, together. </p><p>King has always been good at making things take root, at creating new homes and getting plants to flourish and flower. He’s going to make damn sure he’ll do the same for Ram.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>If you liked it, please let me know, and feel free to come say hi or reblog this post on <a href="https://throwing-roses-into-the-abyss.tumblr.com/post/620038637052149760/of-roots-and-flowers-a-diptych">Tumblr!</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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